generalbriefing:

thepoliticalfreakshow:

Report: Shooting suspect served in the US Army, had many tattoos; suspect had some kind of radical [reactionary] or white supremacist views - @NBCNews

In some ways this is not a surprising report.  There have been many warnings that our returning veterans were going to need more psychological assistance upon their return.  The VA is critically underfunded and the services are spread out in such away that veterans have a hard time getting to them.  This is yet another reason that universal healthcare would have been a great asset to the nation.  

That being said, this was a hate crime and a terrorist attack. And no, it doesn’t have to just be one or the other.  This was an attack against American citizens who were going about their day to day lives and exercising their 1st Amendment rights to religious freedom.  They were members of a community who were targeted for exercising that right. Reports say that the shootings happened in the holy room and that they focused on the religious leaders of the temple.  

This was also an attack upon people because of how they look. The shooter focused on those wearing turbans. The conversation around this incident needs to reflect that- the seeding of hate that has been nursed by the way media portrays middle-eastern, east Asian and Muslim Americans and most importantly, the way in which the media has attempted to sweep the growing racism under the rug.  Similar to what happened during WWII with Japanese/ Asian Americans.  This needs to be discussed. It needs to be acknowledged.